Phenolic condensation product.



OFFICE. A

LEO H. BAEKELAND, or YONKERS, NEW YORK, assmnon 'ro GENERAL BAKELiTE COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION or mew- YORK.

PHENOLIC CONDENSATION PRODUCT.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Mar, 23, 1915,

No Drawing. Original application filed December 2, 1909, Serial No. 531.000. Divided and this application filed October 25, 1913. Serial No. 797,826.

Z '0 all 107mm. it may concern Be it known that I, Lno H. BAnxELAND,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Yonkers, in the county of \Vestchester and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Phenolic Condensation Products, of which the following is a specification.

In my prior United States patents and applications I have described several processes of forming objects consisting ofthe condensation products of phenols and for-- consisting of'two liquids which will separate or stratify on standing. The lighter or supernatant liquid is an aqueous solution, which contains the water resulting from the reaction orgadded with the reagents, whereas the heavier liquid is oily or viscous in charactenand contains the first products of chemical condensation or deydration. The liquids are readily separated, and the aqueous solution may be rejected or the water may be eliminated by evaporation. The oily liquid obtained as above described is found to be soluble in or miscible with alcohol, acetone, phenol and similar solvents or mixtures of the same. This oily liquid may be further submitted to heat on a wateror steam-batlr so as to thicken iti slightly and to drive off any water which might still be mixed with it. If the naction be permitted to proceed further the condensation product may acquire a more viscous character, becoming gelatinous, or semi-plastic in consistence, and

may even become solid and brittle when cold, again melting when gently heated.

This modification of the product is insoluble orincompletely soluble in alcohol but soluble or partially soluble in acetone or in a mixture of acetone and alcohol. All such condensation products are hereinafter referred to as partial condensation products and may be. subjected to further treatment as hereinafter described. By sufficient heating, any partial condensation product is transformed into .a hard body, hereinafter referred to as the final product. This final product is unaffected by moisture, insoluble in alcohol and acetone, infusible, and resistant to acids, alkalies and almost all ordinary reagents. It is suitable for many purposes, and may be employed either alone or in admixture with other solid, semiliquid or liquid materials, as for instance asbestos fiber, wood fiber,- other fibrous or cellular materials, rubber, casein, lamp black, mica, mineral powders as zinc oxid,

barium sulfate, etc.,. pigments, dyes, nitrocellulose, abrasive materials, lime, sulfate of calcium, graphite, cement, powdered horn or bone, pumice stbne, talcum, starch, colophonium, resins or gums, slate dust, etc., in accordance with the particular uses for which it is intended, and in much the same manner as india rubber is compounded with the above-named and other materials to'yield various valuable products. In coinpounding the condensation or dehydration product in this manner the desired materials are mixed with the'same before submitting it to the final hardening o eration. I have found that the presence 0 certain organic substances in the final product may determine a softening action on the latter, which is especially pronounced at comparatively high temperatures. Such additions impart new and =-valuable properties to these bodies, in that they are rendered plastic or capable of welding under pressure,

yielding thereby compact and coherent masses, bodies or articles, especially if the. pressure be aided by heat. Such organic bodies as naphthalene, 'anthracene or other suitable fusible hydrocarbons having a relatively high boiling-point, anilin, phenols, or other phenolic bodies, pitch, asphaltum, cumeron, resin, other resinous matters, parafiin, and in general'such substances as exert some solvent action, however slight,

The fact as above mentioned that such organic bodies persist muitfifin prpduct and have a softening efiect thereon is an indication that they form: a' so-called solid solution with this final product also. The molding may be carried out in steam-heated presses under conditions as described in my prior Patent No. 942,699, above mentioned. 'Ihe present application relates specifically to the employment of anilin' for the 1 product the aforesaid'capability of welding after it has beenfully transformed to the final state of polymerization.

The substances as described above may be added to the initial reacting chemicals, or they may be introduced at any time during the reaction. They may furthermore be used in' conjunction with suitable condensing agents or suitable filling materials.

By the addition of the above-described bodies which facilitate the welding of the mass under pressure, it becomes possible tosimplify'considerably the molding of articles from the final condensation products of phenols and formaldehyde. Indeed, these condensation products can be formed by the simple application of heat, without the use of special precautions for avoiding the production of spongy or lrregular' masses, and

whatever the shape of the final mas may restricted I to any be itcaifbe "easily introduced into suitable niolds ,i'preferably after being comminuted, and can then be pressed or consolidated into the desired shape. The-latter operation is greatly facilitated by the use of temperatures exceeding --100 (3., and preferably greatly exceeding this temperature, whereby the softening efi'ect is increased.

By the term phenols in the present specification and claim I intend to designate not only ordinary phenol but its homologues or other phenolic bodies or mixtures thereof, which are equivalent to phenol for the purposes of this invention. Instead of formaldehyde, I may use the polymers of formaldehyde, or in general such substances as are able to engender formaldehyde in suitable condition." y

This application is a division ofmy copending application Serial No. 531,000, filed December 2, 1909. i

An infusible composition containing a phenolic condensation product in solidsolution with anilin, said composition characterized by the fact that particles or fragments of the substance-Which has beentrans-f formed to its final infusible' state, are yet capable of being welded into compact and coherentmasses under the action of heat and pressure.

- In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

LEO a. BAEKELAND;

Witnesses C. P. TOWNSEND, CnARLEs NnAvn. 

